Top 300 worst cities to live. (crime, home, living in)

[fish2026]

Originally Posted by mhogan10010

It is usually the perception of safety, not the reality of it that people notice.
The South historically has the highest murder rates in the country.
Highest Murder Rate STATE PER 100,000
(1) Louisiana 13.0
(2) Maryland 9.5
(3) Mississippi 9.3
(4) Nevada 8.8
(5) Arizona 7.9
(6) Georgia 7.6
(7) South Carolina 7.2
(8) California 6.8
(9) Tennessee 6.8
(10) Alabama 6.6

Lowest Murder Rate
STATE PER 100,000
(1) Maine 1.2
(2) South Dakota 1.3
(3) New Hampshire 1.4
(4) Iowa 1.6
(5) Hawaii 1.7
(6) Idaho 1.8
(7) North Dakota 1.9
(8) Oregon 1.9
(9) Massachusetts 2.2
(10) Rhode Island 2.3

There are always explanations. North Dakota has very few people so if you wanted to kill someone you might have to search for days for a suitable candidate. Maine is too cold to go kill- they have cable now and you can watch all the murders you wish on tv.

Louisiana and Mississippi are way up there near the top- but their figures are skewn because they count rednecks as people.

[Cosmic]

Of course that is all totally misleading.

In MA they will not kill you. Just torture over and over again.

If a Kennedy kills you it must be an accident. They are foregiven by kneeling and praying at the scene. Followed by blaming an Italian contractor for faulty bridge work. Or she slipped and I knew she wanted to be covered by my big body for protection.

In the south they just kill you, then sit on your body until somebody from the New York Times photographs the bloody scene.

All a matter how some NYC lawyer puts the numbers together afterwards.

Then there is postal rage. Tough out there in the Delta when it all goes wrong.

[looking4home]

Cosmic, funny stuff! You have to realize trhe nature of the areas/cities mentioned. For instance, it was mentioned already that LA has a high rate because of New Orleans (although after Katrina, maybe that's changed). Speaking of which, I have read posts on here from Houstonites who complain that the murder/crime rate has gone up dramatically this past year due to the large influx of evacuees from New Orleans they opened their arms to and so graciously took in. What a way to say "thank you", eh?

[Jammie]

Hey, my state made number two for the lowest crime rate according to Hogan's post. I'm not sure that crime could be explained away because of a state being poorer. So. Dak. is one of the poorest states in the nation. We have low wages and also have the poorest county in the nation, Pine Ridge.

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by UB50

I moved from the South to Los Angeles. While I was living in the South, I had one roommate who was raped by a man (complete stranger) who climbed in one of our windows at night. This was a white man who raped a white woman. When I think about it now, I realize that sex crimes were a lot more common in the area of the South I lived in than they are in Los Angeles.

Regarding the rest of the crime stuff -- there is a huge gun culture in the South. I think this really leads to more violence, not less. At least, here in Los Angeles, the gun laws are tough and I know that if I see someone with a gun on the street -- well, he's probably not supposed to have it. I can safely call the police and report him. You can't really do that in the South because guns are allowed in a lot of places.

A lot of people don't have guns in their homes around here because they know guns are dangerous. I hear NYC is a lot like Los Angeles in this respect. A couple of years ago, there was a daytime manhunt for a man who killed a cop in a suburb of LA. I remember a reporter asking a local resident if she was going to go home and arm herself and she looked at the reporter like he was nuts! She said they had a dog, no guns!

Los Angeles is the one of the MOST VIOLENT places in America!
I lived in Palm Springs for many years and would watch the LA news, it was an hour long and it took most of that to relate the drive by shootings for the day...Wow!

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by thisguy

Well unfortunately the reality is, in America, the poorer the region the worse the crime.

That said, 4 of the top 10 are not in the South, CA/NV/AZ/MD... I guess NV/AZ are "south" but I guess I am talking the "Old South" (Southeast)

Louisana has New Orleans, chronic chrime. Maryland has Baltimore, Georgia has Atlanta. Mississippi and Alabama routinely (along with West Virginia) always lands in the bottom in the country in median income, schools, crime, etc. I am surprised to see NV/AZ so low, I am wondering if thats part of the growing pains of their super high growth, and/or partly due to the huge influx of illegal immigrants or what is the cause...South Carolina also surprised me, no big urban core city. But not a very wealthy state either.

That is true. If folks would be more observant they would see that crime in the South comes from a few predominately black cities...ie. NOLA, ATL, Houston and Dallas...

[#1BeLLie]

First off, everyone is talking about the crime rates in the U.S. What about the job status? I live in Michigan, and I know first hand that are NO jobs here. Is it like that everywhere else?

Second, my fiance and I want to move to Colorado. Is there a town or city that someone can suggest for us to live, where theres jobs, but where the cost of living isn't out of this world? We are only 22 and we don't want to jump into anything we can't handle. Any suggestions?

[#1BeLLie]

Originally Posted by DeLaSalle

That is true. If folks would be more observant they would see that crime in the South comes from a few predominately black cities...ie. NOLA, ATL, Houston and Dallas...

I agree, its all over the United States. Granted there are alot of crimes caused by white people, but if you watch America's Most Wanted, how many of the felons are white? Then how many are black or mexican? It's all in the upbringing.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Originally Posted by mhogan10010

It is usually the perception of safety, not the reality of it that people notice.
The South historically has the highest murder rates in the country.
Highest Murder Rate STATE PER 100,000
(1) Louisiana 13.0
(2) Maryland 9.5
(3) Mississippi 9.3
(4) Nevada 8.8
(5) Arizona 7.9
(6) Georgia 7.6
(7) South Carolina 7.2
(8) California 6.8
(9) Tennessee 6.8
(10) Alabama 6.6

Lowest Murder Rate
STATE PER 100,000
(1) Maine 1.2
(2) South Dakota 1.3
(3) New Hampshire 1.4
(4) Iowa 1.6
(5) Hawaii 1.7
(6) Idaho 1.8
(7) North Dakota 1.9
(8) Oregon 1.9
(9) Massachusetts 2.2
(10) Rhode Island 2.3

Notice how all the safe states are far away from Mexico..

[recycled]

Originally Posted by newportbeachsmostwanted

Notice how all the safe states are far away from Mexico

That comment doesn't deserve a response.
I'll simply note that there are several cities in Orange County, CA just 80 miles north of Mexico that are rated among the safest in the USA (Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Irvine). This county is very safe overall, not just south OC.

My theory is that crime is closely (but not entirely) related with how stable and established the population is. The great plains and northeast for example, have stable communities compared to the south or west. Most of the people that live in a particular area are from that area or have lived there for a long time. That means people have some "roots" in a place and feel tied to their community.
The southeast, southwest and metro areas of the mountain states have seen real big percentage population growth in the last couple of decades. Places like Las Vegas, 80-90 percent are from "somewhere else". So lots of people don't feel like they "belong" there. Same thing in many places in AZ, FL, GA etc. That makes people feel less connected to their town and the other people that live there.